And beholding that monkey place his crown at his feet the monkey-chief,
with an anxious mind, accosted him, saying--"Rise up, rise up, why hast
thou lain thyself at my feet? I declare thou hast no fear, speak out the
truth, From whose fear hast thou come here? It behoveth thee to suggest
the becoming proceedure. Is it all well with my orchard _Madhuvana_? I
long to know everything, O monkey." Being thus addressed hopefully by
the high-souled Sugriva, Dadhimukha, gifted with an intelligence of a
very high order, rose up and spoke--"Neither thyself, nor Vali, the lord
of the monkeys, O king, allowed that orchard to be freely used by the
monkeys--but that hath been now laid waste by them. I prevented them
along with these attendants, but disregarding me, they drank and feasted
there at their pleasure. They were prevented, O lord, in their act of
devastation, by these guards, but those monkeys, without caring for me
the least, feasted there. Some of them went beyond the pale of good
conduct, others ate at their pleasure, and all frowned (at us). And when
these attendents, being insulted by them, were greatly wroth, they were
driven out of the garden, by those powerful and enraged monkeys. And
they were greatly assailed by those many thousand heroic monkeys, worked
up with ire and having reddened eyes. Some had their arms broken, some
had their knee-joints crushed and some of them were thrown up in the
sky. Thyself their lord living, these heroes are beaten, and the entire
_Madhuvana_ is being freely enjoyed by them." The highly intelligent
Lakshmana, the slayer of foes, addressed Sugriva, the foremost of the
monkeys, while he was thus being informed, saying,--"O king, why hath
this monkey, the guard over the forest, come to thee, and what sorrow
hath led him to give vent to these expressions?" Being thus addressed by
the high-souled Lakshmana, Sugriva, skilled in the art of speech,
replied,--"O worshipful Lakshmana, the heroic monkey Dadhimukha speaks
that the war-like monkeys headed by Angada have drunk honey. They would
not have engaged in such an unfair proceeding had they been unsuccessful
in their mission. They have surely achieved success while they have thus
been bent upon devastating the orchard. For this the warders were struck
on their knee-joints for obstructing their revelry and for this they
went so far as to disregard the powerful monkey Dadhimukha. I myself
appointed this monkey the lord of my orchard. Forsooth hath Hanuman
espied the worshipful Sita and none else. There is none else but Hanuman
who is the instrumental of this work, for that best of monkeys hath in
him a high intellect, knoweth the art of success, is gifted with
courage, strength and prowess and is conversant with Sastras. That work
is sure to succeed whose leading spirits are the mighty Jambavana and
Angada, and worker is Hanuman. Forsooth that orchard hath been laid
waste by these heroes headed by Angada. And ransacking the southern
quarter, those leading monkeys have come back and delightedly entered
the _Madhuvana_. And the whole orchard has been explored and enjoyed by
those monkeys and the attendants beaten and wounded on their
knee-joints. To communicate unto me this intelligence, this monkey of
known prowess, and sweet accents, named Dhadimukha, hath come here. O
thou of mighty arms, O son of Sumitra, forsooth they have beheld Sita,
since the monkeys, just on their return, have engaged in drinking honey.
O best of men, they are all well-known monkeys and without espying
Vaidehi they would not have engaged in the destruction of that orchard
conferred on us as a gift by the celestials." Hearing these words from
Sugriva, pleasant unto ears, the virtuous-souled Lakshmana along with
Raghava, was greatly pleased. And hearing this from Dadhimukha, Sugriva,
greatly gratified, addressed that lord of the forest, again,
saying,--"Greatly pleased I am, since, they, being successful, have
explored this forest. And the insulting procedure of the successful is
also pardonable. Do thou soon go there and protect that orchard, and
send here all those monkeys headed by Hanuman. Along with these two
descendants of Raghu, I long to know soon from these monkeys headed by
Hanuman, and proud like lions, what they have settled for the regaining
of Sita. And beholding these two princes greatly delighted and their
eyes expanded with joy, the king of the monkeys, thought that the
accomplishment of the great wort was near at hand, and was accordingly
greatly delighted.